A Familiar Face In The Dark
by andaboveall
Summary: In one night, they left impressions on each other that would never fade. What will the future hold? /Completely AU/ COMPLETE
1. Who Gets The Crown

**A/N: So I've started this new story, this is part 1 of 3. It's completely AU from the show. If you follow Shattered Limits, don't worry I haven't abandoned it. I'll be updating tomorrow or Thursday at the latest. I want to say a special thanks to all my twitter ladies for the help and hand-holding you all did while I was writing this, you girls keep me sane! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, if I did I would move it to HBO and there would be a lot more sex and a lot more swearing, and Puck would never wear clothes.**

* * *

Noah Puckerman loved a good frat party. The free-flowing alcohol and intoxicated girls lacking inhibitions always made for a lucky night. The night was just beginning and Puck had already realized there was no way he wasn't getting any. Let's face it, he was a stud, and in a house packed with mostly drunken college girls, the odds were better than good.

Puck headed for the kitchen looking for some beer and one of the guys. He needed to do some serious scouting, the sets of eyes at work, the better. Filling up a red beer cup at the keg, he spotted Mike and Matt on the back lawn.

Sidestepping the crazy game of beer pong currently going down at the kitchen table, Puck headed out the back doors to catch up with his bro's.

"First party of junior year dude!" Mike shouted at him when he made is way over, clapping Puck on the shoulder, "You ready for an epic night?"

"You know Mike the more you say epic, the less impact it has" Matt piped up, "Hey man" he said, nodding his head at Puck.

Puck was saved from Mike's undoubtedly delayed response to Matt by the music stopping and his boy Finn jumping up on the DJ stand with a microphone.

"Hey everyone, listen up for a sec. Welcome to the first Alpha Tau Omega party of the year here at OSU! Drinks, dancing and a full night of fun ahead. The DJ here will be taking requests all night. Have a great night!" Finn handed the microphone back to the DJ and jumped down trying to avoid the rush of people heading to request songs.

When Finn finally made it over to the group, Puck had already started scoping out the girls. It was like, second nature to him.

"Dude, stop thinking with your dick for a second and talk to us" Finn called to him, hitting him in the back.

"Whatever" was his reply as he kept scanning the crowd while listening with half an ear to Finn, Matt and Mike talking about ATO's baseball team this year. They'd lost a few teammates to graduation last year and how they'd have to make sure the pledges were awesome players. Talk then moved on to the grudge match between themselves and the Phi Psi team; this year they stood no chance, ATO would come out the winner this year.

Puck loved his brothers, but really baseball talk 3 weeks into the semester at the first party, they were nuts.

That's when he spotted Artie wheel his way in through the side gate, followed closely by Tina and a tiny brunette. _Holy hell._

The brunette had the longest pair of legs he'd ever seen, and she was showing them off in a ridiculously short black skirt. They were the kind of legs made specifically for wrapping around his waist. And the kind of hair meant to tangle your hands in; long wavy dark brown locks.

Ignoring the complaints of the three stooges as he walked away, Puck headed for Artie. They'd been cool ever since junior year of high school back in Lima, god he was glad to be out of that town. Just before he reached him, the girls broke away, heading for the house with Puck watching them go, his eyes trained to the brunettes slim hips swaying as she walked. _No more reason to keep looking Puckerman, you found tonight's girl he_ thought reaching Artie.

"Hey man! Who's the brunette?"

* * *

Rachel headed for the keg in the kitchen of the frat house for the third time that night. She could already feel the effects of the alcohol; she'd never been much of a drinker. Tonight was different though, she was with her friends, and she just wanted to let loose for a while. She'd missed out on a lot of parties through her high school years. At Julliard she'd been more widely accepted, but she still wasn't one for partying on a weekly basis. So when she did go out she made sure she had a good time.

Rachel was glad Tina had convinced her to tag along on her weekend trip to Ohio. They had been friends since they met freshman year at Julliard, put together as roommates. Now they had their own little apartment off campus and were practically inseparable. Tina had grown up in Ohio and been the star of her high school glee club before moving to New York for college. So when Tina had finally gotten together with her high school crush this past summer, Rachel had been ecstatic for her. And when she had suggested a weekend trip to Ohio State University so that her boyfriend and best friend could meet, and she could spend time with Artie, Rachel hadn't been able to say no.

Artie was a cool guy, and Rachel got along well enough with him; it was obvious the he and her best friend were smitten with one another.

When she had finally filled up her beer cup (keg lines were long) Rachel headed back in the direction of the picnic table her Tina and Artie had been occupying in the backyard, the beer (and bodies) making walking just a little harder than usual. When she arrived back at the table Artie and Tina had been joined by four guys, all of whom were laughing along with Artie. In the spot she next to Tina she had vacated a few minutes earlier sat a guy who, even from across the yard, drew Rachel's attention. She could see the definition of his biceps and the expanse of his muscular back underneath the t-shirt he wore. As he turned to listen to something the tall guy beside him was saying, Rachel saw the hard outline of his jaw and the twinkle of green in his eye, and she promptly ran into someone.

"Watch where you're walking girl" a voice said pulling her eyes away from the picnic table to see a stunning blonde glaring at her as she walked past. Mumbling an apology, Rachel continued to the table and stood behind Tina. Artie looked up and saw her standing there before speaking to the man she had been so enthralled with.

"Yo Puck, you're in the girl's seat shuffle down."

He looked up at her with a smirk before sliding down the bench to make just enough room for her to squeeze in between him and Tina, so that when she was seated she was pressed right up against his side.

"Puck huh, that can't be your real name?" she asked him in order to distract herself from the tingling in her skin where she was pressed against him.

Puck had a slightly offended look on his face "Of course it is"

Rachel was taken aback, what kind of parent names their child Puck? "Oh I'm terribly so –"

"Don't listen to him, he's a jackass. And his name is Noah Puckerman" the Asian guy sitting across from her spoke up, a big smile on his face, "I'm Mike Chang" he told her sticking out his hand for Rachel to shake.

"Rachel"

The rest of the introductions were made, and Rachel found out the goofy tall one was Finn Hudson, and the handsome black guy was named Matt Rutherford. All four guys were brothers here at the fraternity, and also good friends with Artie whom Puck had met through their mutual love of the guitar.

* * *

3 hours later, Puck was still sitting with Rachel, Tina, and Artie at the picnic table. His boys had just drifted off a few minutes ago. Up until then everyone had been talking and laughing and drinking beer. Rachel was adorable, talking with everyone, laughing along to all the jokes. Her laugh had been getting progressively louder as the hours passed, along with her getting a lot more touchy feely with everyone, and Puck had a suspicion it was very much due to the amount of alcohol she'd had. His brain was totally focused on how she would bite her lower lip, the way her shirt clung to her chest, and the way her skirt rose on her thighs when she moved next to him. He'd been rock hard since she'd squeezed her little body in next to his. He wanted her so bad, but he'd rather her not be _so _drunk that she passes out on his bed before they even got started, so putting on a gentlemanly front, he asked her if she wanted some water.

"That would be lovely Noah" she answered putting her little hand softly on his forearm. Puck grimaced at the use of his first name, but he figured he could stand it for night so he didn't say anything, instead just standing up and heading for the kitchen of the frat house. After getting Rachel a bottle of water from the fridge Puck turned around only to be cornered by a girl who was practically falling over drunk. She sidled right up to him, grabbing his arms.

"Hey Puck, you have quite the reputation around here" Leaning in closer she whispered in his ear, "I'm Bree, want to head upstairs?"

He almost said yes, before he remembered Rachel sitting outside. This Bree was gorgeous, but he'd seen her around at other parties before, so he knew she would be around again. Rachel on the other hand was here only for the weekend, and beyond all reason Puck was strangely drawn to her, despite the fact that she was not a sure thing.

"Not tonight" he told Bree, shrugging away from a now pouting Bree and heading back outside. When he got back to the picnic table Rachel was giggling at something Mike had just said. Tina and Artie were no longer there. Puck gave Mike a questioning glance, to which Mike replied with a shoulder shrug.

"Dude, Tina and Artie headed back to his apartment thank god, they were getting _way _to handsy. They left Rachel here the spare key because she said she wasn't ready to leave. They wanted me to stay with her until you got back, Artie says to tell you to not make him regret convincing Tina it was safe for Rachel to stay and that she better be in a cab back to the apartment later" Mike said while half laughing.

"Shut it Chang! Rachel will be fine, right Rach?" He asked handing her the bottle of water.

"I'm doing great Mike, it's sweet of you and Artie to worry, but I'll be fine to get back to his apartment"

Mike looked skeptically at Puck but finally relented, shrugging his shoulders and turning to Rachel "Let me know if you need anything okay?"

Rachel nodded, "Thank you Mike, you're a dear" she said before starting to giggle.

Puck sat back down as Mike headed back towards the house. Rachel was practically inhaling her water.

"Easy there killer, you don't want to choke" he told her laughing.

Rachel stopped drinking, looked at him with her head cocked to one side, before saying "That's what she said!"

Puck felt like his heart had stopped, this girl was amazing! They were both laughing so hard, people were giving them strange looks, but Puck didn't care. If he was into relationships, Rachel just might be a girl after his own heart. But relationships were for suckers, Puck was all about the one night stand. There was less pain that way.

Once they finally stopped laughing, Rachel finished off her water. "How you feeling now?" Puck asked her.

"Much better, although I still have quite the buzz going on, but I don't feel like I'll walk into things anymore" Rachel replied, a huge smile spreading across her face.

Puck let out a laugh, "That's good then" he replied back to a nodding Rachel, "So tell me about New York"

Rachel clapped her hands excitedly and starting talking a mile a minute; Puck only half listened to what she was saying, focusing instead on her lips moving and her boobs bouncing when she got really excited about what she was talking about.

"- fantastic the way I fit in at Julliard. My high school classmates just didn't appreciate my talent. But at Julliard I'm surrounded by other talented people who understand my nature a little better. In high school they didn't understand, but I'm going to be a Broadway star one day. I am talented and driven and I know what I want, and Broadway is it. I will be there one day, and I'll see my name in lights. It'll happen, they just didn't believe me. Tina and I have this amazing little apartment just off campus at Julliard, of course it costs an extraordinarily high amount but we are very fortunate that my fathers' have contributed greatly to our rent so that Tina and I can focus on school instead of making money to pay for the apartment. Sometimes I miss living with my fathers'; I have to gay dads and they're so great to me. They dote on Tina as well, as if she was their own daughter. The only thing I think that disappoints them some is I don't often make it to temple anymore, I'm Jewish, did I tell you that?"

Rachel was still rambling on, and Puck was content to just sit back and soak it all in. The thought that his mother would approve of her popped into his head for a second until he realized that no, she really wouldn't seeing as Puck's every intention was to fuck her and never see her again. Despite the temptation to parade Rachel in front of his crazy mother (she was always rambling on about him finding "a nice Jewish girl") Puck didn't do dates, or relationships, and he'd hate to give his mother false hope she'd end up nagging him more.

"-always had such trouble with guys. They're so childish and crass, not to mention very unappreciative of my voice. I've dated a few guys in New York, but no one even close to as striking as you are. I mean they're all these skinny guys, very unlike you, and there was just never any chemistry"

All of a sudden she started to blush, as if realizing what she had just said. That's when Puck saw his opening, gently cupping her chin he turned Rachel towards him and slowly lowered his lips to hers. After a seconds hesitation Rachel was deepening the kiss. And Puck's mind started to go blank with the pleasure.

* * *

Five minutes later Puck was pushing Rachel back onto his bed, both of their clothing having already disappeared since they arrived in his room. Coming down on top of her, Puck pushed her silky hair off of her collarbone and licked a long line up to her ear, causing Rachel to jerk below him. Attacking her lips again, Puck reached down to trail a finger down her side and over her hip and back up again to cup her breast in his hand. _The perfect handful_, he thought before Rachel bit down on his lower lip and all rational thought flew out the window.

Just when he thought Rachel couldn't surprise him anymore, she pushed him up and away from the bed, trailing hot little kisses down his chest and stomach, playing with his nipple ring. She nipped at his hip bone, licking over to sooth the burn. Gripping him in her tiny hand, Rachel licked along his erection, then promptly took him deep into her sweet little mouth, all the way to the back of her throat. Pulling back off of him she looked up at him with a smile on her face, winked and then said "no gag reflex".

Puck's knees buckled, and Rachel took him back into her mouth, working his cock deep and reaching down to gently squeeze his balls. Jerking, he tried to pull her away, he couldn't take much more, but Rachel continued the sweet torture while he groaned out her name before he finally managed to jerk away from her.

"You little minx, you'll pay for that" he told her as he dragged her back up his body, and started walking her backwards towards the bed. "I hope so" she whispered in his ear just as they reached the bed, tumbling onto it in a mass of limbs. Puck grabbed her hips and dragged her so that her legs were over the edge of the bed and moved down her body, giving her the same slow sweet torture she had been so happily giving to him. Her body was writhing as he trailed his tongue along her hip. A gasp escaped her as he ran his tongue up her folds to her clit, drawing his tongue in a circle but never quite giving her the touch she craved. He teased her mercilessly with his tongue, lapping at her until it drove her mad.

"Noah, please…"

Finally he gave her the contact she was begging for, sucking hard on her clit. Her leg wrapped around his back, while both her hands were gripping the back of his head tightly in place. Her climax ripped through her as the shouted his name and writhed beneath him, and he almost came himself from the sheer pleasure of watching her descend into oblivion.

His patience snapped as he reached into his bedside drawer for a condom, rolling it on before pushing Rachel up onto his bed, her head onto his pillows. Without any warning he pushed into her all the way to the hilt, feeling the aftershocks of her orgasm ripple around his cock.

"God Rachel, so hot and tight…I can't bear it"

He started moving then, pulling his cock almost all the way out before slamming back into her, little shocks ripping through her (or him, he couldn't tell) every time. It wasn't slow, or romantic, it was pure need. Rachel met him thrust for thrust her brown eyes almost black from desire. In that moment she looked so perfect below him that he closed the gap between them and kissed her fiercely, pouring all his need into the joining of their bodies. Rachel began making quiet mewling noises, dragging her mouth away from his to bury it in his shoulder. He felt her tightening around him and without warning her orgasm exploded through her, milking his cock as she screamed his name again, feeling her clenching around him sent Puck right into his own climax.

His climax was so strong he saw nothing but black, his mind slipping into oblivion as Rachel's name crossed his lips. They both lay panting for a minute before Puck had the sense to pull out and dispose of the condom. When he rolled back towards her, Rachel was already asleep. Sliding her to lay next to him, Puck realized sleepily that tonight was the first time he had ever used a girl's actual name during sex. Usually he stuck to babe, or baby, it kept things impersonal.

_Well fuck, _was his last coherent thought before sleep dragged him under.

* * *

Rachel woke with a start when she felt a weight press down on her stomach. Opening her eyes she saw she was in an unfamiliar room; the weight on her stomach coming from the muscular arm of the guy lying next to her. In a blink of an eye, the previous night came rushing back to her. She felt as though she should be embarrassed but in reality she was too tired to think much into it.

Rachel took a moment to take in her surroundings, something she definitely had not done the night before. Noah's room at the fraternity was painted blue and had a nice set of wood furniture including the queen size bed she was currently in. The room was clean, if untidy. There were papers and clothes strewn haphazardly around, her own included.

Realizing she was thirsty, Rachel carefully removed Noah's arm from her waist, before slipping to the edge of the bed. As she stood her thighs burned in protest and a groan escaped from her lips. She heard Noah grumble awake behind her, so Rachel reached for her clothes and began dressing. She heard Noah roll over and turned back to face him.

"Morning, I'm just going to run and grab some water, you want anything" Rachel asked him, pulling her shrug over her shoulders.

"I think maybe you should go now" he said, pushing his hand through his short hair.

Rachel was confused, she in no way expected a relationship, they lived too far away, but some pleasantries or small talk or anything really would have been nice. It seemed so in contrast to the sweet way he had acted last night. Her confusion must have been evident on her face because he got up, pulled on his boxers and stood in front of her.

"Look we both knew what this was, a onetime deal. And I have plans for lunch with the guys, it's a tradition after our parties" He reached over to grab something off his dresser. "Rach you were honestly the best sex I've ever had" he told her placing a burger king crown on her head, "take your walk of shame with pride"

Rachel's mouth opened in shock, she couldn't believe he's just said that, she was mortified. Slowly she walked to the door grabbing the crown off of her head. Once out in the hall she heard Noah say "Goodbye Rach" and close the door behind her.

She tried her best to keep the tears from spilling out as she made her way down the stairs of the frat house. Unfortunately she ran into Mike and Matt on the lower level. Why did the stairs have to be at the back of the house?

"Rachel what are you still doing here" Mike asked looking worried. Rachel didn't want to tell him the truth so she just told him she'd fallen asleep and just woke up "I'm heading back to Artie's now" she said, trying not to show how upset she was. It didn't work.

"Bullshit Rach, you look like you're about to cry, what happened?" Matt said to her, gently grabbing one of her shoulders.

She sighed and gave into the inevitable, telling them the events that had transpired in Noah's room just minutes earlier, "Guys I just want to get out of here now. I'm sorry, it was really nice meeting you two, but I want to get back to Tina and Artie."

Both boys nodded their heads and walked with her to the front door. Matt looked worried for her, and Mike looked angry enough to spit nails. Before she walked out the door, Mike stopped her. "Here Rachel, give me your phone and I'll give you my number. If you need anything before you leave town let me know okay?"

Rachel nodded handing over her cell. Matt and Mike really were sweet, she was almost grateful she had run into them this morning.

* * *

When Rachel had arrived back at Artie's apartment that morning, she'd been attacked by a worried Tina. Rachel had apologized profusely for worrying her, but said she really needed to take a shower. She had known Tina could see something was wrong but she had let it slide for a while. Rachel stayed in the shower until the water had run cold before finally getting out and going to face Tina.

The girls had walked to a nearby coffee shop, and over cappuccinos Rachel had told Tina the whole embarrassing story. However, Rachel realized while explaining this morning's exit from the frat house that she was no longer upset, she was furious. How dare he placate her in such a manner. She hadn't been expecting wine and red roses, so where did he get off pulling such a stunt in order to get her to leave.

That was how she found herself walking back down the upstairs hallway of the fraternity followed by Mike who she had called an hour earlier. She'd explained that she couldn't find the keys to her apartment in New York and she felt like she might have left them in Puck's room (yes he was Puck now, Noah was a sweet name, one he was not deserving of). Mike had caught on pretty quick that Rachel really hadn't left anything behind, so he's sent Puck out to grab some beer in order for Rachel to have the time to exact her revenge.

Rachel slipped quickly back into Puck's room while Mike stood guard outside. Walking over to the bed Rachel grabbed a sharpie out of her purse and took a deep breath before signing her name nice and big, vertically on one of the bedposts. Replacing the cap on the sharpie, she placed it back in her purse before grabbing a sheet of gold star stickers and placing one at the end of her signature.

She stepped back to admire her work, a small smile creeping onto her face as she thought of Puck's reaction to this. Just then Mike walked into the room stepping up behind her he burst out laughing. "I can't wait to see his reaction to that!" He said in between laughs.

* * *

At the door to the ATO house Mike wrapped Rachel up in a big hug and told her to take care of herself back in New York, and to keep in touch, before sending her off to Tina's waiting car just down the block.

_He'll never be rid of her now; she's already under his skin. This should be fun to watch._


	2. It's Times Like This

**A/N: A huge apology for taking so long to put out part 2 of 3 for this story. It's kind of been kicking my ass but that's still no excuse for taking a month to update. Anyways if you read part 1 when it first came out you might want to re-read it so you have the context for this chapter. I hope you enjoy and please review!**

**Also the last part won't take as long to put out, I promise. Big thanks to GoingVintage, 2looney and sassy26 for being so encouraging, and all my other Twitter ladies as well :)**

**Disclaimer: They still have Puck wearing clothing so I still don't own Glee.**

* * *

_**3 years later…**_

Rachel sat across the table from her date using all of her will power not to roll her eyes as he continued to ramble on all about himself. She was about 2 minutes away from excusing herself and initiating Escape Plan #2 with Tina just to get away from Mr. Ego sitting at the dinner table with her.

Fortunately just then Ethan's (Evan's?) phone started vibrating from its place next to his wine glass.

"Excuse me, it's work, I have to take this" he said sliding out of his chair and walking away from the table. God how could one guy possibly love himself so much? Rachel was usually the talker, but even she wasn't as bad as this guy. Rachel grabbed her wine glass and downed the last few mouthfuls quickly; if she was going to get through the rest of this date she was going to need it. _This should teach you to not to let your friends set you up._

When her date got back to the table he had an apologetic look on his face and Rachel tried her very best not to break out into a smile.

"I'm sorry I have to go back to the hospital, it's one of my patients. Maybe we can finish this some other time?"

"Sure, I'll get your number from Annette and call you" Rachel told him forcing herself to sound graceful. _Not likely._

Once her date had paid the bill and left, Rachel grabbed her coat at the door to the restaurant and decided she needed a drink. Calling Tina while she hailed a cab, they made plans to meet at the bar near her apartment in half an hour.

* * *

Puck was serving his millionth beer of the night in a small but fairly popular New York bar when the world ended. Or at least that's how he felt. It was just a flash of dark brown hair and chocolate eyes, so quick he'd almost missed it, and then it was gone. Puck rubbed his hand over his head, taking in a ragged breath and trying to convince himself it was just a trick of the light.

As Puck got back to work serving drinks behind the bar, his mind had wandered back to a night he'd been steadfastly trying to forget for the past 3 years. Unfortunately, she was unforgettable. Pushing the memories to the back of his mind where they'd spent the last 3 years, Puck told himself New York was too big of a city for them to run into each other, especially so soon after he'd moved here. _It wasn't her, it wasn't her._

"Two beers please"

_Fuck! _He'd recognize her smooth melodic voice anywhere (He absolutely did NOT hear it shouting his name in his dreams at night, he didn't). Puck turned around slowly, pasting on his trademark smirk and secretly praying she wouldn't recognize him.

Puck was stunned, she'd been a hot little thing 3 years ago, but she was flat out gorgeous now. Her dark brown hair wavy and falling almost to her waist, dressed in a tight black dress that showed off her curves. As his eyes finally reached her face, Puck saw the last of her smile slip off her face, replaced by a scowl and a raised eyebrow.

"You" was all she said, turning to look if any other bartenders were available. That pissed him off a little bit, she'd had her revenge for his asshole actions, and he was still sleeping with her name on his bed every night.

So yeah, he was going to mess with her a little bit (he never said he wasn't still an asshole).

"Hey babe" he said blowing her a kiss. She clenched her jaw tightly and her face flushed with anger. She was hot when she was all riled up, all trembling and red because of him, it didn't take his mind to place her trembling and red in his bed, falling apart for him. _Well damn, she's said one word and I'm already half hard. Jesus fucking Christ._ Very grateful for the bar between them Puck adjusted himself discreetly as he waited for the imminent explosion; he could tell she was ready to give him a Grade A bitch out. She'd always been very talkative.

"What the hell are you doing in New York City Puck!"

"So it's Puck now huh? I seem to remember you enjoyed calling me Noah" he was an asshole, he really was. But she was just so damn entertaining when she was angry.

"Don't start this. I can't believe you're here. Why are you here? New York was my city, my sanctuary which means they shouldn't even have let you onto the island."

"It's a free country babe"

He was really getting to her now; he could see it in the way she had to take a deep breath, probably to stop herself from reaching over the bar and strangling him with her bare hands. Her adorable, tiny, bare hands. _Stop thinking about her hands Puckerman!_

"One stop calling me babe and two just hand me the beers and leave me the hell alone"

Puck bent down into the beer cooler and pulled two out, popping off the caps he handed them over before grabbing her wrist.

"You know you still want me Rach, no point denying it" he told her, adding a wink for good measure. Scoffing she dropped a 10 on the bar and walked away, back into the crowd. And Puck would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy watching her go.

Rachel could feel Puck's gaze on her as she walked away, heading back to the table she and Tina had claimed in the far corner of the bar. She was in shock, the people around her were just blurs, and she was back to that feeling she'd had one morning 3 years ago, inadequate and more than a little embarrassed. Similar to that day, by the time she reached Tina, that embarrassment once again had morphed into anger.

Rachel sat down across from Tina, sliding the beer across the table before straight out asking "Did you know he was here?"

Tina looked at her as if she's lost her mind before answering "Who are you talking about Rach?"

Rachel could tell that Tina's confusion was genuine and she felt (some of) the anger slip away. At least her best friend hadn't kept such vital information from her.

"Rachel, who's here?" Tina asked again, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"Puck, he's living here in New York. And working here at this bar" Rachel responded shaking her head in disbelief. After 3 years of telling herself that night was nothing, that he was just a distant memory, and in 2 short minutes it all disappeared.

* * *

Puck walked in the door to his shitty apartment several hours later, exhausted from spending so many hours on his feet that day. Kicking off his shoes he headed straight for the shower, he smelled like beer and a crowded room. Turning the hot water on full blast, Puck stripped down and stepped under the hot spray, rinsing away the bad day(s) he'd had.

Getting interest in the band he'd started with Matt, Mike and Finn was harder than he'd thought. He had no preconceived notions that it would be a walk in the park, but he'd expected something, just the slightest speck of interest in the month he'd been here. Puck thought back to the afternoon they'd come up with their badass band name. They were all hanging in his room at the ATO frat house playing Xbox when Finn had blurted out "Spaghetti and the O's" which had earned him 3 looks that basically said _could you be a bigger moron?_("Whatever fuckfaces, I was hungry"). Unfortunately, thinking about his room at the frat house got him thinking about that night with Rachel, which made him think about seeing Rachel tonight all frustrated and furious, shaking with anger, which in turn gave him a raging hard on. _Well fuck me._

Puck contemplated just switching over to cold water, but he had a feeling that wasn't going to be enough to cool him down. What was it about this chick that made him so crazy hot for her? Reaching down Puck slipped his hand around the base of his cock, slowly pumping his hand up and then back down his length as images of Rachel's sweet little mouth replaced his hand.

In his mind he was back in that night 3 years earlier, in his room where she had rocked his world. He could see her clear as day take his cock deep into her hot little mouth, swallowing around him. He quickened his pace as he pushed his cock in and out of her mouth faster and faster. The closer he got to release the deeper his memory went until Rachel was beneath him, squirming with pleasure as he fucked her hard and fast.

Puck felt himself go tense and seconds later he was screaming out her name as he climaxed, slapping his left hand to the shower wall to brace himself up.

Several minutes later as he felt the water grow cold he realized that the usual flashes of Rachel at 21, in his room pleasuring him in unimaginable ways had morphed into how he imagined she would look now after seeing her again tonight. Any hope he'd had about eventually being able to forget her had been thrown out the window after tonight.

_Why the fuck did I ever move to New York?_

* * *

The next morning Rachel was regretting allowing Tina to convince her to dance and drink away her anger. It'd been 10pm when they'd left the bar near her apartment and headed out to a club. They had danced the rest of the night away, while Rachel consumed numerous fruity cocktails and let the music drive away her thoughts.

However this morning, with her raging headache and aching muscles, Rachel was contemplating the supposed brilliance of that plan. She'd failed to remember that spending all day in rehearsal's and then spending 4 hours dancing in a club was torture on her body. And an undefined amount of drinks was almost (_almost_) enough to have her swearing off alcohol forever.

But as she lowered herself slowly into a hot bath that morning, she realized that it _had _taken her mind off of seeing Noah…Puck again.

Rachel also was currently quite grateful that her company's revival of Phantom of the Opera had not hit Broadway yet; it meant that for now she has weekends off. While resting her sore muscles in the tub she began to wonder how long Puck had been in New York City, and why Matt or Mike had never mentioned it to her.

Surprisingly her Mike and Matt had kept in touch over the past 3 years, and even though they'd only seen each other twice in that time period, they were 2 of her best friends. But right now she was furious with them for not telling her about Puck. So as she grudgingly got out of the tub to give them a call she decided she can add making her cut her bath short to the list of reasons she's pissed at them right now.

A few minutes' later Rachel walks into the kitchen now dressed for the day and puts on the kettle to make tea before picking up the phone and dialing the number to the apartment Mike and Matt share. When Rachel hears a groggy "hello" on the other end of the line she feels bad about waking Matt up, until she remembered how pissed she was at the both of them.

"Matthew, I suggest you get yourself out of bed, find Michael and put me on speaker phone so I can talk to the both of you" Rachel tells him with as much bite in her voice as she can muster.

She can hear the realization (and fear) in his voice when he lets out an almost imperceptible "Shit!" followed by the sound of rustling sheets indicating that he was getting out of bed. A minute later she heard Mike's groans and Matt whispering "Dude wake up! Rachel's on the phone and she knows"

"Shit, we're dead men"

Rachel chuckles to herself at that as she hears a soft click and Matt saying "We're both here now, what's up Rach?"

She stops laughing then and her smile is replaced with a frown "Cut the clueless act boys, you know exactly why I'm calling. How could you not tell me he was in New York? We talked less than a week ago!"

Mike jumped in then, "We honestly thought that it would take a while before you guys bumped into each other, if you ever did. New York is a fucking huge city Rach"

Rachel let out a wry laugh at that, "Obviously not big enough. He's working at my favourite bar guys, THREE BLOCKS FROM MY APARTMENT!"

"Well fuck, what're the odds of that"

Rachel could tell that Mike and Matt were trying very hard not to laugh over how hysterical she was getting.

"This is no laughing matter boys! Do you not remember what he did to me; I never wanted to see him again!"

Apparently the two Neanderthals found this incredibly humorous because they both burst out laughing. "Rachel we love you, but you have to stop lying to yourself. You WANT to never want to see him again, but deep down you know you'd like to" Mike told her through his laughter.

Not amused in the least Rachel just hung up the phone on them. It was very rude and entirely out of character for her but she was fed up with stupidity.

_Well I'll just have to find a new favourite bar._

* * *

Later that week Rachel finds herself really wishing she could just go to the bar and have a drink. She's exhausted from rehearsals and has been in a crappy mood for days. She's grateful that she is in a show at all, but after four years at Julliard and dreaming her whole life, she expected to land a lead role, not a supporting one.

She can't really talk to anyone about this, because she doesn't want to seem spoiled and ungrateful. This is exactly why she needs to go to the bar and drown her insecurities in beer, except she's avoiding the bar. But when it's pushing 4 o'clock and she's still whining in her head and still has 2 more hours of rehearsal she decides to hell with it, _he's probably not working anyways_. She's lying to herself, she knows deep down that he probably is.

Puck is working the late evening shift at the bar that night, and by the time he gets there at 5 o'clock he's already exhausted. He's spent every day this week so far approaching minor record labels about signing The Wild Cards in the mornings and spending his afternoons going to clubs and bars all around the city looking for gigs. New York is starting to crush his spirit a little bit. Who knew even finding somewhere for them to play would be this difficult?

It's almost 6:30 when he sees Rachel walk into the bar, looking around hopefully before her gaze landed on him and a frown formed on her face. Clearly she'd been hoping he wasn't here.

He reached down and pulls out a beer for her as she walks towards the bar, popping the cap off he places it in front of her just as she sits down.

"I'm here for a beer, no conversation, so I'd appreciate it if you just left me alone" she said, letting out a sigh.

Seeing he had other customers he just smiled at her and went to serve them, probably giving her a false sense of hope, but whatever. She was such an easy target, he enjoyed riling her. As soon as he'd served the other drinks he walked back over to Rachel and leaned on the bar in front of her.

"Bad day sunshine?"

"Ugh what part of leave me alone do you now understand?" she asked with an impressive glare on her face.

Puck smirked, "I understand it fine, I just choose to ignore it"

Rachel just continued to glare at him until he backed off a little. Maybe she needed more alcohol in her before she'd start talking.

A half an hour later Rachel was on her third beer and looking even more depressed than when she'd first walked in. And now she was sighing. _Fuck my life; she's actually having a bad day._

"Okay that's it, you're acting like someone kicked you're goddamn puppy. What the fuck is wrong?"

She glared at him for a few seconds before she dropped her head to the bar "Fine"

She startled rambling about how she was supposed to be a star by now and she was just in a supporting role and how she wasn't sure she was good enough to be a star. He wasn't sure where all this shit was coming from but it sure as hell didn't sound like the Rachel he remembered.

"What happened to the girl who was sure she was going to be famous, what happened to that un-shaking and annoying as hell confidence you had? Because I seem to remember you rambling on about how you were destined to be a star!"

Rachel looked at him with a stunned expression that quickly transformed into anger.

"Don't make the mistake of thinking you know me Puck" she said, throwing money on the bar, "Goodnight"

Before she slipped away Puck grabbed her wrist and bent over the narrow bar to settle his lips over hers. The kiss started out slow, but then Rachel was tugging him closer and opening her mouth to give him entrance and she was moaning. And then someone cleared their throat, loudly. The stupid fucker. And Rachel pulled away lightning fast.

"I can't do this" she said quietly as she turned tail and practically ran out of the bar. _Well fuck, _Puck thought as he discreetly adjusted himself behind the bar.

* * *

When Puck heads home 3 hours later, he's still fucking hard, and damn uncomfortable (not to mention pissed). Just like every other night, he heads straight for the shower, turning on the hot water, stripping and jumping in. He washes quickly before leaning back to let the water just run down his body.

Before he realizes it Rachel's face is in his mind and his hands on his (still) hard cock and he's running his hand up and down his length, imagining Rachel's sweet hot mouth from tonight. His memory of their night from three years ago mixed with the women he'd just started to know today, and it made one hell of a picture. It doesn't take long for him to climax, Rachel's name spilling from his lips. And if he hadn't been alone he'd have been embarrassed at how long he (didn't) last.

Turning over in her bed again, Rachel tries in vain to get comfortable. She's been on edge since she'd shared that kiss with Noah a few hours earlier. It was time she face it, she was ridiculously turned on, damn him and his beautiful body and skilled lips. As she reached her hand below the covers, dragging it down her stomach to her clit, she cursed the day she'd ever met Noah Puckerman. A few minutes later, his name was spilling from her lips for an entirely different reason.

* * *

If anyone were to ask, Rachel would blame it on the alcohol and Noah being a gentleman and walking her home from the bar that night, wrapping his jacket around her shoulders. Not the way his jacket was warm and made her remember being surrounded by him; not the way his distinctly masculine scent filled the air around her and made her dizzy; not the way his tongue darted out of his mouth to lick his lips making her remember how amazing that tongue was. Nope, it was the alcohol and the care Noah demonstrated, it clouded her judgment.

Not to mention she was high of excitement, her show had its first performance on Broadway that night, and while she still didn't have a lead role, she was giddy to finally be on Broadway. Tina and Artie had been in the audience like she expected, along with her fathers. But the real surprise had been seeing Finn, Matt, Mike and Puck after the show. Her friends had surrounded her, offering their praise and fawning over her and she'd been overjoyed. Even Puck had offered a quiet "You were amazing Rach" that had warmed her heart.

The group of friends then headed off to the bar near her apartment, the one where Puck was bartending most nights. They ordered pitchers of beer, toasting to Rachel's success and generally carrying on, being loud and having fun. It was almost like that night at the frat house three years back, all of them sitting around the picnic table laughing and getting along. But at the end of the night they're breaking into little groups and heading home (or to the hotel in Finn, Matt and Mike's case). When Puck offered to walk her home, she said yes before she could decide otherwise.

So when Noah said goodnight and turned to walk away, Rachel reached out to grab his wrist, her excuse already formed in her head. Reaching up she put her hand on the back of his neck, dragging his head down to hers as she rose up on her tippy toes to meet his lips. Puck stood shocked for a few seconds before he took over, putting his hands on her hips and dragging her towards his body and deepening the kiss. Rachel's other hand settled low on his stomach as she opened her mouth to allow his tongue entrance. When Noah gently brushed his hand under her shirt and up her side Rachel writhed beside him, pressing against him where she could feel the evidence of his arousal thick and hot against her stomach.

Rachel pushes away from him and Noah just looks down at her with a confused look spreading across his face. "Don't even try to tell me you don't want this Rach, the way you-" Rachel cut him off with her lips, working her way along his jaw line to his ear, "Come upstairs Noah"

They were upstairs in her apartment in record time, both breathless from the kisses and the running. Before the door to her apartment was even closed they were both stripping out of their clothes.

They only made it to the bedroom because Rachel insisted, and they barely made it there at all. Puck would have been more than happy to fuck her against the door, on the floor, on the kitchen table, or really any other available flat surface.

After what felt like hours of them torturing each other, Puck finally slipped into her, the sweet heat enveloping his cock, gripping it tightly. It felt like coming home, but he quickly pushed that thought aside for now. Right now was all about the feel of her pussy milking him as he thrust into her, hard and fast, over and over again.

"Harder Noah" Rachel moaned, her legs sliding up to wrap around his waist, pushing him deeper inside of her and he still pounded into her harder, giving in to her demand gladly. Seconds later Rachel's orgasm came out of nowhere, exploding through her as Puck felt her tighten around his cock, gripping it so tightly that he tumbled into his own release with her, grunting out her name before collapsing on top of her.

Coming to his senses Puck slipped out of her, Rachel groaning at the emptiness, before padding over to the bathroom to dispose of the condom. When he got back to the bed Rachel was already asleep. _Tired her out, didn't I?_

He took the time now to appreciate just how her body had matured in the past 3 years, committing every inch of her to memory; the gentle curve of her hips, the smooth length of her legs, her narrow waist, and her long brown hair that reached to her waist. Lying down beside her he pulled the covers over them both before pulling her to him gently; settling his hand on her hip as sleep threatened to pull him under. _I should head home_ was his last thought before he slipped into sleep beside her.

* * *

A few weeks later Puck finally manages to garner some interest for The Wild Cards and gets them 5 gigs at this little bar in downtown Manhattan. That night when he picks up the phone to call his boys and tell them to start packing their shit, they're moving to New York, is the best night he's had in a while.

His hand itches to pick up the phone and call someone, to call Rachel. But he's sure she doesn't want to hear from him, not after the way she kicked him out of her apartment after the night they'd shared a few weeks back. Clearly she regretted sleeping with him again, Puck on the other hand didn't care, she was smoking hot and a great lay. Plus she wasn't so terrible to talk to. Win-win in his book.

* * *

The day that Finn, Matt and Mike move into their apartment in his building Puck invites everyone over to his apartment for pizza and beer and some celebrating. The Wild Cards had their first gig in a month and it was an ongoing contract, every other Friday night for 2 months at a local bar.

Tina and Artie had apparently convinced Rachel to come, because the look on her face when they practically dragged her through the door was one that basically said she intended to kill them later. Then Mike and Matt practically tackled her and she her scowl turned into a huge smile as she started laughing and joking with them already. _Fuck she hasn't even been in the door 30 seconds and they're already acting like a tight-knit trio._ Puck felt like he'd been punched in the stomach and decided he was clearly hungry as he headed into the kitchen for a slice of pizza.

Everyone is sitting around his living room, drinking beer and eating pizza and talking, and he thinks it's nice to have his boys around again. Their crazy antics had been missing these last few months. Matt and Mike are busy telling Rachel that The Wild Cards are going to become superstars, tour the world and make tons of money; and then Rachel's telling them how she's going to be a star one day too, how her name will be up in lights in Times Square. He remembers that speech, he got it on a night three years ago, except it was a little more slurred and followed by crazy hot sex.

"Puck, dude!" He hears Finn call at him.

"What!" He asks, dragging his eyes from Rachel and turning to look at Finn. Finn just looks at him for a moment before saying "Wow, she's really gotten to you has she"

Puck scoffs, he's a certified bachelor, no chick _gets _to him. "The fuck you talking about moron?"

Finn just shakes his head and starts laughing, like he knows something that Puck doesn't. _Fuckface, _Puck thinks as he heads into the kitchen and grabs himself another beer.

Tina and Artie leave around 10, faking exhaustion he's sure, to get some time alone. Matt and Mike have convinced Rachel to stay for a while longer and are currently trying to teach her how to play CoD on his Xbox. She gets killed about every 20 seconds and laughs like she's having the time of her life; Puck's entranced by her laugh, it's just so cute. _Cute? Well fuck. _Puck has no clue what's happening to him, but he doesn't like it, so he picks up his guitar and starts playing around, trying very hard to ignore the female presence in his apartment whose laugh is _cute. _And whose body is smokin' and has kept him hard pretty much since she stepped through the door in her skintight jeans, heels and v-neck tee.

But then the boys bust out Rock Band and Rachel loses interest, instead heading into the kitchen and starting to tidy up. Puck takes this as a sign that he's meant to have some alone time with her tonight and promptly kicks those douche bags out of his apartment. They're all laughing as he basically shoves them out the door and he flips them the bird before closing the door in their faces.

Back in the kitchen he walks in to see Rachel putting all the leftover pizza into a container, and she just looks so right standing in his kitchen, so hot that he goes up behind her put's his hands on his waist and kisses the side of her neck. Rachel falls back against him as he kisses his way down her neck and along her shoulder, moving her shirt aside as he goes. He grabs her hand and tugs her around to face him, fusing their lips together as he walks her backwards towards his bedroom.

There is clothing flying, bodies shaking and writhing, moans spilling out into the air. And finally bodies joining and he has a moment of clarity right before he loses all sane thought where he realizes this is where they know each other best, in the cover of the dark they know each other's bodies as well as they know their own.

They're lying next to one another, sated and panting for air when a laugh escapes his lips. Turning to look at her, Rachel's got a confused look on her face so he explains.

"I lied three years ago"

"What do you mean Noah?"

"THAT was the best sex I've ever had"

"Does that mean I should sign your other bedpost now?" She asks laughing and he can feel himself starting to glare at her.

"I can't believe you actually did that!"

She laughs then; turning to look at him she says "Neither can I."

* * *

When she's laying next to Noah as he slips into sleep Rachel wonders if it will always just be this way with him. Amazing, mind-blowing, heart-stopping sex. There's no use in denying how attracted to him she is, not anymore. His raw masculinity is dangerous to her sanity, and despite her reactions otherwise, his crass language and I-don't-give-a-shit attitude always manage to light a fire in her. Their chemistry is explosive, she realizes, and that is exactly what makes it so dangerous.

_I have to leave. _Slipping from Noah's bed as quietly as possible, Rachel grabs her clothes and gets dressed quickly before heading for the door. When she's standing in the doorway to his bedroom she glances back to see him shift, trying to get comfortable as he sleeps. The slightest motion causes his muscles to ripple and her breath to catch in her throat.

_Stop torturing yourself Rachel. _She turns her back to him, and on will power alone slips from his apartment and out into the night, hailing a cab. When she shuts the door and gives her address to the cab driver she lies back in the seat and shuts her eyes. _It won't happen again, it can't!_

* * *

Puck spent the next few days pretty angry that she would just leave in the middle of the night, it was just sex! After he stopped being angry, he spent the next month trying not to think about her, especially in the shower.

* * *

The next month goes by in a blur, Rachel is working almost non-stop with rehearsals and shows. She barely has time to grab a coffee with Tina any more, let alone actually go hang out. When she's not working she's usually sleeping. She vaguely realizes this is no way to live, she needs to get out and spend some time doing other things, but she is bone-deep exhausted most of the time.

So Rachel is actually really grateful when Mike calls her on Thursday night and tells her in no uncertain terms that she WILL be at their show tomorrow.

"Rach, you're driving yourself insane with work, we've seen you once since we moved here and we barely ever talk. You're coming! Even if Matt and I have to come and get you ourselves."

"I'll be there Mike, just probably not before you guys go on; I have a show at 7:30 so I probably won't get there until 10:30"

"We're excited to see you Rach, not to mention we are going to kick ass tomorrow" Rachel can here the grin in his voice and can't help but smile herself.

"I know you will!"

* * *

Rachel was so excited to be going out to spend time with her friends again, that even the thought of seeing Noah again couldn't put a damper on her night. She suspected he was not pleased with her leaving in the middle of the night.

When Rachel walked into the bar she could hear The Wild Cards up on stage playing a stripped down version of Use Somebody by Kings of Leon. Noah was singing, sitting on a bar stool and playing his acoustic guitar and she was enthralled by his voice. She's never heard him sing before, but he had such a strong rough voice that held a hint of vulnerability. She'd heard him strumming on his guitar that night a month ago, but the fluid way his hands played the chords sent a shiver up her spine and she felt herself blush all over when she remembered just how skilled those hands were.

Finally managing to tear her gaze from Noah she headed for the bar and ordered herself a beer before scanning the crowd to search for Artie's wheelchair. Spotting Tina and Artie at a table just to the right of the stage, Rachel headed in that direction throwing the boys on stage a smile when they spotted her.

Up on stage Puck watched Rachel cut through the crowd in a pair of tight jeans, red heels, a black top and a short leather jacket. _Holy fuck is she trying to kill me. _

Rachel sat hugged Tina and Artie before sitting down and shrugging out of her leather jacket, it was way too hot in here for leather. As the guys on stage started their next song Rachel kept her gaze on Noah practically the entire time as she sipped her beer and let the music wash over her. She was having a blast already, and she was really glad she'd come out tonight.

Catching her gaze Noah winked at her before turning his head back to the crowd to keep singing and Rachel felt her well built arguments of why they shouldn't continue with a physical relationship start to crumble. They had amazing chemistry, she always had fun when they were together, and he was gorgeous. There was no reason they couldn't have a purely physical relationship while maintaining a friendship. She was smart enough to keep herself from letting it get any farther than that, but she needed a little fun in her life, she'd been missing that lately.

With her mind made up Rachel watched the band perform 2 more songs, one original which was fantastic, and another cover song this time Simple Man by Lynyrd Skynyrd (They sure have an eclectic set list Rachel thought) before Noah announced they were taking a five minute break. _Here's your chance, go talk to him Rach. _"Be right back"

She could see the guys over on the other side just off the stage arguing about something, so she went to the bar and got 4 bottles of water before heading over to them.

"Just keep the set list in the order we agreed on guys, no messing with it" she hears Puck say and the three other guys nod grudgingly before they all notice her standing there.

"You brought water? I love you!" Matt says excitedly kissing her cheek and swiping one of the waters as the rest of the guys reached out to grab one themselves.

Rachel kept glancing at him as the other guys asked her how she'd liked it so far, and she told them how amazing they were. After their break was almost over the guys headed back to the stage but Rachel reached out to grab his arm and he stopped and turned back to her. She was nervous about something, he could tell by the way she was biting her full lower lip. He'd rather be the one biting it.

"I have a proposition for you" she said suddenly and his eyes snapped up to meet hers. Taking a step closer, hoping she was about to say what he wanted, no _needed _to hear. Instead of answering Puck just raised his eyebrow.

"We clearly have chemistry…physical chemistry, and we keep ending up in bed together. And I think it's stupid of us to ignore the heat between us when we can do something about it" she blurted out really fast, not meeting his gaze.

He was fighting to keep a smile from breaking out on his face "Rach are you saying we should have no-strings attached sex?"

Finding some courage buried deep inside her, she reached up and pulled him into a scorching kiss, biting his lower lip before pulling away. Calling over her shoulder as she headed back to Tina and Artie she said "What do you think?"

_Oh she's so going to get it later._


	3. And we've got nothing figured out

**A/N: So here's the last part! I hope you enjoy and please review :)**

**A big thank you to 2looney, StarsAreAMetaphor, sassy26, jlz1 and others I'm sure for all their help and feedback. Credit for the smutty scene near the end goes to ktthelibrarian on Twitter, thanks for the prompt!**

**Disclaimer: Do I really have to keep doing this? I'm running out of witty one-liners. Don't sue.

* * *

**

It had been two weeks since Rachel had decided that a purely physical relationship with him was inevitable and they had only spent one night apart in that time period.

The sex was great. Actually the sex was fucking amazing, but the company rocked too. Usually Rachel would come to the bar after her show for a late dinner and a beer and would wait until he was ready to leave. She'd just sit at the bar sipping her beer and talking to the people around her, or to him if it was a slow night.

There was this one night a few nights back when she had been talking animatedly to the woman sitting next to her and all he could think about was how hot his girl looked all happy and confident. And by _his girl _he clearly meant the chick he was fucking on a regular basis, not his girlfriend. He didn't do girlfriends. Anyway they were sitting there talking about shoes or something like that as he grabbed his coat and made his way around the bar towards her. Just when he walks up behind her the woman she'd been chatting with for the better part of an hour got this look on her face like the fucking light bulb just went on and her mouth parted as an excited "Oh!" burst out.

"I know who you are! You're in the Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. Rachel Berry right?"

The smile that broke out on her face could have been seen by the blind and he was so proud of her in that moment. When they are still talking about the musical 5 minutes later he wasn't as enthused. But Rachel more than made up for it that night in his bed. Who knew getting recognized could get a girl so hot? (He thinks that's probably something pretty unique to _this_ girl)

So suffice it to say it's been an awesome 2 weeks.

* * *

In early March, Noah took her skating for the first time. They got to the rink really early in the morning when no one else is around so that he has room to teach her the basics.

This whole thing started the week before when Puck insisted on watching the hockey game on their only night off together. Rachel had other ideas (and a much better way to pass the time) but when she'd tried kissing him he'd pushed her away. She'd crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him until he turned to look at her.

"Don't be like that Rach! It's the Blue Jackets, this shit is serious"

"I swear Noah Puckerman I will cut you off so quickly your head will spin. I will walk out that door and you will lose the benefits that go along with this friendship, and there's no getting them back"

She finally calmed down when he offered to teach her how to skate; she'd been too busy with acting, singing and dancing classes as a young girl to have any interest in skating, but she had to admit that the idea was appealing, and the more she watched the hockey game the more she got into it. So she curled up next to him to watch the rest of the game.

By 10am she was bombing around the ice like she'd been doing it her whole life. He even had her skating backwards. He skated up to her and grabbed a hold of her hand and they skated around the rink together.

"This is fun Noah! Thank you."

He smiled down at her and winked, "No problem babe"

A few minutes later Rachel let out a huge yawn, bumping into him as she struggled to pay attention to where she was going. He chuckled, pulling her off to the side of the rink.

"Let's get you home Rach. There's time to catch a nap before you have to be at the theatre"

They made it back to Rachel's apartment, but there was no sleeping involved.

* * *

Puck was sitting in Mike, Matt and Finn's apartment jamming on his acoustic guitar and trying to come up with a plan to garner more interest for The Wild Cards. Well he and Finn were working; Matt and Mike were more interested in their ongoing NHL competition on the Xbox.

"Yo fuckers, mind paying attention here" he said, tossing a pillow at Matt's head.

"Fuck off Puckerman, I'm this close to kicking Mike's ass and taking the lead."

Puck just rolled his eyes and muttered _whatever_ as Mike shouted "Over my dead body, jackass"

A few minutes later (after Matt had indeed kicked Mike's ass and taken the lead) they finally shut down the Xbox and began pitching in ideas for how to spread their name in the New York music scene. They all agreed that if they wanted to catch the attention of the professionals in the business they needed to add more original material to their repertoire.

Puck was usually the one who would write their original material, with Finn kicking in a piece every now and again. When it came right down to it none of the other guys had quite the life experience he had. He had never considered having a dead beat as a father and a daughter he'd never get to see grow up would be a blessing in disguise, but if those experiences became his meal ticket he was all for it.

Finn had also experienced more than his fair share of pain in his life, some even at Puck's hands. His father had been killed, taken from him before Finn had ever really known him; but at least he hadn't had to watch in the early hours of his seventh birthday as his father packed up his car and disappeared. He'd left behind a broken wife, an innocent 4-month-old daughter and an extremely bitter son in favor of a life he'd never really be a part of anyways. His dad had left chasing the rock star dream and had ended up living paycheck to paycheck and spending way too much money on booze and not enough on food.

As for the daughter he'd never know, Finn had suffered much the same situation. Puck had fucked up big back in their sophomore year of high school. He'd fallen for the wrong girl, his best friend's girl, and he'd knocked her up. For months Quinn had led Finn to believe he was the father and Puck hadn't had the balls to inform him otherwise. He'd cared about the baby and had even helped Quinn, but he never breathed a word to Finn; he was terrified of losing his best friend. The truth had eventually come out and Puck had been there to see the birth of his daughter, he'd also been there to see her leave the hospital in the arms of the perfect suburban family. His anger and bitterness regarding the whole situation had never really faded. But both he and Finn had lost that little girl and over time their broken friendship had healed, leaving them better friends than ever before.

His trip down memory lane caused Puck to re-evaluate his life now; he couldn't ever remember being so happy, or truly feeling like he belonged somewhere. He didn't know why exactly Rachel's face popped into his head right then but he also couldn't seem to fight the smile that just thinking about her caused.

"He's thinking about Rachel again" Mike's voice penetrated his thoughts.

"The fuck you talking about, dickhead?"

Matt, Mike and Finn burst in laughter at Puck's defensive tone. "Oh please, you've been getting that same look on your face for damn near three and a half years now, and considerably more often these days now that you're getting laid by one Rachel Berry on a regular basis" Matt said, a shit eating grin spreading across his face.

His friends were really starting to piss him off with their bullshit. So she was a great lay, didn't mean he was going to marry the chick.

"Dude, you have no idea what the fuck you're talking about"

Finn spoke up, adding in his 2 cents worth, "Face it man, you're crazy about her".

Puck glared at his best friends and clenched his fist, struggling to maintain control before saying "Fuck off dude, she's the best sex I've ever had, but that's it"

Finn glanced at Matt and Mike, all three of them sharing a look of amusement. "And you'll be okay with giving that up when some guy comes along and snatches her up because you didn't have the balls to step up and be a man?"

He opened his mouth to tell off his friends, to tell them that it had always been a temporary arrangement, but he couldn't seem to get the words out. He snapped his mouth shut and clenched his fists once again this time trying to control the jealousy threatening to bubble over. Fuck no he wasn't okay with giving that up.

"That's what I thought," Finn said with a taunting and amused grin on his face.

"If it's any consolation, she's been getting that same look for years as well" Matt added.

That got his attention. "Really?...Wait, how the hell would you know that? Other than the party in college you've only been around her for less than 6 months"

Mike laughed before responding, "Dude, you knew we had kept in touch with her. What the fuck did you think we were doing visiting New York every summer since then?"

_Well fuck that explained a lot.

* * *

_

When the cast of the Phantom of the Opera went into the recording studio Rachel tried not to feel inadequate and unnecessary. However, it was more difficult than she realized considering she spent almost all of her time in the lobby instead of in the actual studio.

She had spent way too much of this particular afternoon people watching for her liking. They did have comfortable couches and she had her iPod with her, but still she's ready to actually do something.

She's distracted by the music shuffling through the demos of The Wild Cards Noah had sent to her when a shadow falls across the screen. Sliding her headphones out as she looked up to see a professional looking businessman with short blonde hair smiling down at her.

The man in front of her is exactly the kind of man she had dated in the past, put together, well groomed and obviously a professional. She is confused when reality hits her, that despite being incredibly good-looking, he's actually doing nothing for her.

"Hi, I'm Peter," he shot her a smile and extended his hand as he spoke.

With a slightly confused expression on her face, she raised her hand to shake his. She politely introduced herself as he helped her up.

The two exchanged small talk for a few minutes, mostly discussing why she was at the recording studio that day before he gave her another small smile, "I hope this isn't too forward, but would you like to go out sometime?"

Rachel was shocked at how forward he was being. They had hardly spoken but he had asked her out! She was quite fond of that aggressive nature in other people considering it was such a prominent character trait of her own. She wished she wanted to say yes, but she was unable to muster up any attraction towards him despite his impressive appearance and charming personality.

"I don't think that's a good idea, but it was nice to meet you," she said candidly. She turned to go back to the couch when she felt a warm hand on her arm.

He stepped towards her again as he reached into his jacket pocket, "Wait! Here's my card if you change your mind."

Rachel accepted the small card, looking it over as Peter walked out of the building. She felt a little thrill race through her as she saw that he was a label exec for the most popular small record label in the city.

Noah and the boys had been so down lately over the lack of interest in their band, something she just didn't understand. They were phenomenal. She'd always had an ear for music and she knew that The Wild Cards had a special sound; that they were unique and talented. She knew exactly how to cheer them up.

Rachel sat down and reached into her bag, pulling out her cell phone to dial the number on the card Peter had handed her just minutes before. He picked up after only 2 rings.

"Hello?"

"Hi Peter. This is Rachel," she paused, "I've changed my mind and I'd _love_ to see you again. I usually go out to Joe's Pub on Friday nights. We should meet there, say around 10?"

He chuckled before he replied, "Sounds great Rachel, I'll see you there"

Rachel dropped her voice to add a husky quality to it, "I can't wait."

As she snapped her phone shut she ignored the aching in her chest, the ache that came from flirting with Peter. _She had no reason whatsoever to be guilty.

* * *

_

Puck was jealous. There's no denying it anymore, not with that jackass pawing Rachel over there at the bar. He can't believe she's just standing there letting that dickhead blatantly flirt with her. He knows her better than she realizes. He can see how tense her shoulders are and he knows that the smile plastered on her face is not genuine; it's her show smile. He knows she's not into this guy, he can read her. Why the fuck isn't she doing something about it? Her attitude is definitely one of the things that drew him to her in the first place; that and the really fucking awesome sex.

So he does what any self-respecting guy would do in his situation, he claims her publicly.

"This next song we just added to our set list and I'd like to dedicate it to my girl Rachel Berry," his eyes looked from her to the guy next to her. For added affect he sent a glare in the direction of that jackass who had the balls to hang on her. At least he got the (not so subtle) message; he raised his arms in surrender. Puck watched as he backed off and instead spent the rest of the night listening to the band, only talking to Rachel occasionally.

When The Wild Cards finished their set Puck headed over to where Rachel was still talking to that jackass. He came up behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist then settled his hands on her stomach to pull her closer to him. Rachel turned towards him, kissed him gently on the jaw while he glared at the dickhead in a suit standing in front of them.

"No need to get territorial man, I didn't know she was taken," he said giving Rachel a pointed look, "I'm just standing over here."

Puck just shot the guy a wry smile before asking, "Then what are you still doing here?"

He felt Rachel's tiny fist hit his chest (she had a pretty good arm for such a tiny thing) as she squealed "Noah!"

"Sorry babe, I'm just confused as to what he's doing hanging around if he knows he doesn't have a shot." he smirked.

The douchebag stuck his hand out, which Puck grudgingly shook as the guy introduced himself.

"I'm a record label executive for Imagination Records here in New York. Your band has a kickass sound and your original material is stellar," he paused, " I would be very interested in talking to you and the rest of the band further"

Puck was stunned speechless; after so many hours put into making it in the music business things finally seemed to be falling into place. The Wild Cards had managed to snag the attention of the minor record label in New York City. Peter reached into his suit jacket, pulled out his business card and handed it to Puck who was trying desperately to control his shaking hands. _Man up Puckerman, stop acting like a dumbass pussy._

"Call me tomorrow, late morning, on my cell," Peter said.

"Thanks man, I really appreciate this," Puck replied, finally finding his voice.

That night in bed Puck found himself wondering how Peter had found out about The Wild Cards and their standing Friday night gig at Joe's Pub. He hadn't even realized he'd spoken aloud until he heard Rachel reply, "I don't know". When he turned to face her on the other side of the bed he saw her standing in just his t-shirt, her hair falling gently down her back. His eyes widened, she was beautiful.

"Come here" he whispered; Rachel lifted the covers and slid into bed as Puck flipped over trapping her body beneath his; he used his arms to keep from crushing her. He lowered his head to hers and took her mouth in a scorching kiss, which she returned with fervor. Her whole body was tingling with need and Rachel felt Noah's growing arousal against her leg. When he pulled away suddenly Rachel's eyes flew open to see him staring at her intently.

"You organized that, didn't you?" he asked.

"I have no idea what you're talking about Noah," Rachel replied, winding her arms around his neck and pulling him down to resume their kiss.

When he pulled away again a minute later Rachel groaned; it wasn't fair of him to tease her like that! His hands had drifted up her (his) shirt to cup her breasts and he nibbled on her jaw, and he suddenly stopped. _What?_

"It had to have been you. We never contacted Imagination Records Rach, we didn't think we'd have a shot," he continued.

Rachel sighed as she dragged his head down for a short hard kiss while she lowered her hand to grab a hold of his thick length. Breaking the kiss Rachel looked him in the eye and said "It wasn't me Noah, so will you _please_ shut up and fuck me now?"

Lying sated on the bed next to one another some time later Rachel turned towards Noah only to see him watching as her heavy breathing caused her chest to rise and fall rapidly. She felt the warmth, the tingly sensation rising. She kissed him gently before resting her forehead against his.

"I may have had something to do with it," she admitted.

* * *

Just a few weeks later The Wild Cards were officially signed to Imagination Records and heading into the studio to record. To celebrate the group headed out for a night on the town at a little restaurant with great food, great music and great dancing.

As they all sat around the table sipping their drinks and taking a break from dancing Artie cleared his throat getting everyone's attention. "We're getting married," he announced, grabbing Tina's hand and pulling her onto his lap.

The table erupted in cheers and shouts of congratulations. When everyone had calmed down some they all began discussing wedding plans while Puck found his mind start wandering. He pictured himself in a tux, Rachel in a white dress, little adorable chocolate brown haired, hazel-eyed kids playing in the park, and he didn't hate it. He couldn't believe he wasn't running for the hills. He wonders when everything between them changed, or maybe it had always been this way, he'd just been too dense to realize it at the time. Regardless the small smile Rachel gives him from across the table makes him thing it's all changed for her as well, and that makes him happier than he would've guessed.

* * *

When Rachel met Noah at the bar that night he grinned widely when he spotted her and mouthed "I have news" while he finished serving a customer down at the other end of the bar. When he was finished he grabbed a beer and headed her way, his grin still firmly in place and obviously infectious because she found herself smiling back at him, despite not knowing what had him so happy. It had to be something big, Noah wasn't one for excessive displays of emotion outside of the bedroom.

"What has you in such a good mood?" she asked when he stopped in front of her, taking a sip from the beer bottle before handing it to her.

When Noah tells her that The Wild Cards are going on a two month long tour to promote their CD Rachel wants to be happy for them, for him, she really does. But the tightening in her chest and the burning in her eyes tell her she's not ready to let go of him yet. She blinks back the tears and puts on a fake smile.

"That's great Noah, I'm so proud of you guys"

"I call bullshit Rach; you look like you just watched your dog get run over. What's wrong?"

She hates how easily he can see through her, but she answers anyways "I guess this means the end of our arrangement"

"The fuck would we do that for?" he asks. The perplexed look on his face makes this even harder, but she can't continue to kid herself. She's involved, committed to him and he's worried about getting cut off. She needs to end this…thing now, before he ends up breaking her heart.

"Come on Noah, we both knew this was temporary. One or both of us would have moved on eventually, it's just happening sooner than we thought"

"We don't have to call this off, Rach," he said angrily.

She smiled at him before replying, "Yeah, we do. But I really am happy for you." Rachel picked up her purse from the bar, stood up and headed for the door trying desperately not to cry. Just as she reached the door she felt him grab her arm from behind. She just pulled out of his grasp without turning to face him, unwilling to show him the tears running down her cheeks.

* * *

The two months that followed were miserable for both Puck and Rachel, and pretty much anyone who was around them. Puck is happy when he's on stage, playing from the heart, but when he's back on the bus on the way to the next city the thoughts of Rachel return. It takes every ounce of his strength not to call her and ask her what's going on. She broke things off just when he was realizing how much she meant to him, he _would not_ go crawling back. But it still hurt every time he thought of what she might be doing and whom she might be doing it with. In fact it more than hurt, it made him sick.

In New York City Rachel was not faring any better. Her performances every night always managed to put the pain at bay, but it never stayed away for long. She couldn't help but regret breaking things off, or the fight that had followed. She managed to put on a bright face while helping Tina with the wedding preparations (three months to plan a wedding is not ideal) but Tina sees right through it, and Rachel knows she does. Regardless it is a moot point because nothing further could be done, and she'd picked a hell of a time to realize that it wasn't just sex between them, not anymore, if it ever had been.

It just really, really sucked.

* * *

Puck had arrived at Tina and Artie's wedding that night, fresh off The Wild Cards tour, ready to win Rachel back. And not into the emotionless relationship they supposedly had before, he planned to ask her to be his girlfriend. It was a huge step for him he hadn't had an actual girlfriend since he was in high school, so he was not in the least bit prepared to see Rachel with another guy on her arm.

He fumed throughout the ceremony, standing next to the other groomsmen and looking everywhere but the spot next to Tina. He couldn't bear to look in her direction, he was afraid of what he would see in her eyes. He wouldn't accept the fact that they were over before they'd ever really started, not while he could still do something about it.

Rachel was out on the dance floor with Ethan; he'd been her last minute date option, and despite the fact that she had never called him after their first (disastrous) date he was willing to attend the wedding with her. When the beat started to slow down as the DJ smoothly transitioned into a slow tempo song Noah stepped up to Ethan and asked, "May I cut in?"

Without waiting for an answer he swept her into his arms and began to twirl slowly around the dance floor. She had been worried that Noah was still angry with her earlier, this is the first time he had glanced at her all evening and she couldn't help the grin that formed on her face at the thought that her plan just might be working.

Rachel asked Noah about the tour and watched as his eyes light up as he started talking about the feeling of being onstage in front of a large audience. It was a feeling she understood well in her profession, as there is no rush quite like the rush of being on stage. Or at least that's what she had thought, but twirling around the dance floor in Noah's arms had a surprisingly similar effect on her. When the song was over Noah smiled at her and headed back to his friends while Ethan rejoined her on the dance floor, and Rachel just couldn't fight the burning in her chest watching his retreating form.

By the end of the night Noah had cut in on every single slow dance and the two of them had spent some in comfortable silence and the others talking about everything under the sun; dreams, family, friendship, everything.

"Why did you invite him to the wedding," Noah asked her as he walked her out of the reception hall. Ethan had left, once again, after receiving an urgent call from the hospital.

Rachel thought about lying, but Noah was clearly showing interest in her and if her plan had worked she could maybe get him to admit his feelings for her. So she spoke the truth, "I wanted to get your attention"

Noah stopped walking, grabbing her arms gently he turned her to face him and looking her right in the eye, his gaze intense.

"You always had it Rachel"

She shook her head; she couldn't believe this was working. She fought the urge to smile and instead asked, "What do you mean Noah?"

He smiled down at her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear before bending down to softly take her lips, drawing her into a sweet kiss. He tasted like champagne and vanilla cake and _Noah_. And she had missed that more than she even realized.

"I mean I want you back Rachel, but I want to do this right"

She smiled and asked "Like a couple?"

Noah just chuckled and stole another kiss before whispering against her lips "Exactly like a couple."

That night they come together for the first time in two months, and to Rachel it feels like coming home. Except tonight is different, it's sweet and gentle and slow and truly spectacular and when she's lying curled up next to him and he asks, "Come meet my family next weekend?" she realizes she could fall very hard and very fast for this man.

* * *

As they are walking up the steps to his childhood home he stops Rachel to remind her how certifiable his mother is, she hadn't seemed to grasp how serious he was the first eleven times he'd mentioned it, instead just scolding him for talking about his mother that way.

But before he can even get the words out of his mouth the door flies open and his mom and little sister Daliyah come charging out of the house.

Puck just rolls his eyes and begins making introductions. "Rachel this is my mom and that hell raiser is my sister Daliyah. Mom, Dali, this is my _Jewish _girlfriend Rachel Berry"

Rachel shoots him with a glare as she holds her hand out to his mom and says, "Nice to meet you Mrs. Puckerman"

His mom legit has tears in her eyes as she drags Rachel into a huge hug. "Call me Dana, honey," she tells Rachel and Puck is thrilled and more than a little shocked. He should have brought a Jewish girl home years ago. His mom (and sister now that he thinks about it) had always hated any girls that he brought home on sight; they'd never had a chance. But judging by the way the three women were already chatting up a storm he had a feeling Rachel was the one to change all of that.

By the end of the day Puck was exhausted. Keeping up with the three women in his life and their breakneck conversation speed had a way of draining him. He was lying in his old bedroom with Rachel curled up next to him when her hands started roaming and she started dropping little kisses on his chest.

"Stop, Rach," he tells her, pushing her hands away from their spot dangerously low on his stomach.

"But why Noah, we can be quiet"

Puck starts laughing, because fuck no she couldn't be quiet. Rachel is glaring at him and he hears his mom call from the room next door, "What's so funny, Noah"

The look on Rachel's face is priceless, her eyes get wide and her mouth forms this perfect little oh.

"See what I'm talking about babe, the woman's batshit crazy, plus these walls are paper thin. We are not having sex when my mom can hear."

"Oh, go right ahead dears, I would love some Jewish grandbabies!"

Rachel snuggled even closer to his side before whispering, "Oh my god, she _is _crazy."

"Sleep, babe."

* * *

By the time Sunday night rolls around Puck is going out of his mind. Seeing Rachel just around the house all weekend and not being able to touch her, to be with her the way he wanted was making him more than a little insane. Like rivaling his mother, insane. So he comes up with the perfect plan; he grabs a spare blanket from his room and tells Rachel to dress warm because it gets cool in the evening where they are going.

After dinner with his mom and sister he and Rachel hop into the rental car they'd picked up at the airport and headed out towards the lake at the edge of town. It had been where he'd spent most of his summers since he had been 5 years old. There was plenty to do; swimming, canoeing, kayaking, but he had a different destination in mind, the tree house overlooking the lake that had been his getaway the summer his dad had left. He'd spent hours and hours fixing it up since it was barely used anymore and he'd hid away for the rest of the hot sunny days that followed until school started again. It served as the perfect place to get away from the chaos of the weekend, the perfect place to have his way with Rachel away from prying eyes (and ears). He'd been hard since they left the house and he was slowly picking up speed the closer they got to the lake.

Rachel wasn't naïve; she wasn't sure exactly where they were going, but she knew exactly why they were. The weekend had been pure torture, watching Noah with his family had made her realize that she'd already fallen for him. Despite his gruff exterior he loved his mom and sister and seeing that had finally opened her eyes to what she'd been ignoring for a long time. The moment she'd realized it she'd wanted to drag him to the nearest hard surface and make love with him, but that had not been an option at the Puckerman residence that weekend. So suffice it to say she was more than ready now; she could already feel the heat pooling low in her belly, her pulse becoming erratic and her breaths getting shallower, and he hadn't even touched her yet.

Pulling the car right up to the base of the tree Noah jumped out of the car and headed over to open the door for Rachel and grab the blanket from the backseat.

"It's beautiful here, Noah," Rachel said looking out over the smooth lake surface and the setting sun reflecting on the water.

He grabbed her hand and gave it a gentle tug to pull her out of her reverie. "The view is even better up there," he told her pointing up in the tree to the wooden structure and the ladder descending down through the branches.

Puck followed Rachel up the surprisingly sturdy ladder with the blanket under his arm. When they reached the platform they both ducked inside the tree house itself to find that it was also surprisingly well maintained. The side facing the lake had been completely replaced and now held a real glass window that took up most of that side instead of the stingy hole that had been there when he was a child.

He spread the blanket out on the floor of the tree house and when he looked up Rachel was standing there in her bra and jeans. As she dropped her long sleeve shirt to the ground and toed out of her shoes she smiled at him and said, "Race ya!"

Wasting no time whatsoever Puck began undressing at record-breaking speed. He wasn't sure who took all of their clothes of first, but he was going to make sure they both won that night. Pulling her down to the blanket Puck lay on top of her and took her mouth in a hard demanding kiss and took no time getting straight to business. He used one hand to tweak her nipples until they were stiff peaks, dragging his mouth down her neck and sucking one nipple into his mouth while palming the other breast with his hand. His other hand trailed gently across her stomach, down her thigh before tracing back up to cup her mound. She was already drenched, and he felt his hard fought patience begin to fade as he almost roughly laved attention to her breasts with his mouth.

When he ran his finger across her slit Rachel's legs fell open and he slid between them, circling his finger around her clit and then dragging it back to plunge two fingers deep inside her. Rachel's back arched and she let out a loud moan. _God _he'd missed that sound these past two days.

"I'm ready Noah, please don't tease me anymore," Rachel whimpered and the need that was so very evident in her voice snapped his last thread of control. He removed his fingers slowly and lined his cock up at her entrance as Rachel wrapped her legs around his waist and he slid hard and fast into her.

He set a rhythm, plunging in and out of her heat, hard and fast. He felt Rachel quiver below him when his cock hit her G-spot and so he continued to hit that spot with each stroke.

"God, Noah" she moaned, causing Puck to grunt in return.

As Rachel met him thrust for thrust he could feel his release getting closer; intent on making sure Rachel reached her climax at the same time he snaked his hand between them to stroke his thumb across her clit. As they both reached for the oblivion just out of reach their rhythm became uneven.

Rachel's climax hit hard; her muscles clenching around his cock as she repeated his name over and over on a breathless moan. The whole combination sent him over the edge into release and the world turned black for a few seconds.

A few minutes later, after they had both dressed, Puck sat with Rachel on the edge of the platform where the tree house stood staring out over the lake, watching the shimmering reflection of the moon and the stars.

It was calm and serene and Puck felt better than he had in months just sitting there, with this girl on this night.

He saw Rachel shiver from the cool night air and gathered her close to his side, wrapping his arms around her to stave off the cold. He couldn't help but feel like it was just right for her to be tucked in next to him like she was, like she belonged there always.

"I love you," he blurted out, feeling Rachel tense beside him and immediately wishing he could take it back. _Fuck, I need to stop saying shit without thinking it through._

He wasn't denying it wasn't true, he did love her. He'd come to that stunning conclusion over the course of the weekend, but feeling Rachel tense up like she did when he opened his goddamn mouth made him feel like an idiot.

"I mean…Well…" as he started stammering Rachel seemed to come out of her haze, turning to face him on the ledge of the tree house she gently put her finger over his lips, effectively shutting him up.

She pulled back slowly, resting her head against his and whispered, "I love you, too."

* * *

A year later Puck has a ring on Rachel's finger, which is more of a turn on than he ever realized. They had just spent their honeymoon in Hawaii, although to be honest they actually didn't see much outside their hotel suite.

Puck watched as his wife walked around their new apartment he'd had his boys set up while they were away. The smile on her face does funny things to his heart, but he's gotten used to that reaction; it doesn't scare him the way it used to.

When they get to their new bedroom Rachel stops at the end of the bed and starts laughing when she sees her name scrawled along their bedpost in permanent marker.

"I can't believe you never painted over this, or got a new bed," she said turning to look at him.

He just shrugged his shoulders, "You were under my skin even back then. I just hadn't realized it yet"

Rachel pulled his head down and gave him a quick peck on the lips before pulling back. When Puck reached to bring her back in for a longer kiss she ducked out of his arms and walked back towards the bed reaching into her purse. She pulled out a permanent marker, a smile on her face as she scratched out _Berry _and signed _Puckerman _after her first name. She barely had time to cap the marker before Puck was tackling her to the bed.

This isn't a fairytale; they don't live happily ever after. Let's face it, he's Puck and she's Rachel and they fight all the time. But the makeup sex? Totally worth it.


End file.
